Southbound Train
by Ritz-Myst-Sekamu
Summary: I'm sitting on a Southbound TrainStaring at the skyI'm thinking of my childhood and I'm trying not to cry. Kenshin rides the night train to Tokyo, and thinks. Written by Sekamu


Sekamu: okay, another song fic from me. Again, I wrote this quickly, so i'm not sure how good it is. I'd had the idea for a while, and I finally sat down and wrote it all out. The song is Southbound Train by Nanci Griffith. Hope you all like it!

Kenshin sighed as he boarded the train to Edo. Tokyo, it was called now. He jostled shoulders with businessmen and merchants. Kenshin kept a sharp eye on his wallet, wary of pickpockets.

Carefully he took his seat halfway down the train, next to a faded-looking businessman. One curious look from the man, and he was promptly forgotten.

Kenshin looked up at the darkening sky as the new train pulled away from the platform.

_I'm sitting on a southbound train_

_Staring at the sky_

Kensin ducked his head and hid his sword under the seat as a policeman walked by. Swords had been outlawed years ago. He smiled softly, imagining what his master would have said about that. The thought that he would never find out sobered him immediately.

_I'm thinking of my childhood _

_And I'm trying not to cry. _

Kenshin ligtly dozed, waking up when the businessman fell against him.

"Oro?"

The word was answered with a snore.

Kenshin stared bemusedly at the businessman, and shrugged it off. A few minutes later, Kenshin woke from his catnap as the conductor asked, "Oh, are you two married?"

"No, sir," Kenshin replied, embarrassed.

The conductor also turned slightly red. "Sorry, sir! You just look like…"

"It's fine," Kenshin cut the poor man off. "It happens fairly often, that it does"

_While a stranger sleeps against me_

_And it looks like I'm his wife._

Kenshin absently watched the woman across from him as she nodded off over her book. A window slid open, and the pages flipped quickly, waking her. The former assassin returned to staring out the window.

"Ah, Tomoe…" Kenshin whispered. "Will I ever love again?"

_Some things I know_

_Some things I guess_

Kenshin eyes focused on the sear again, but his mind was back in that wintry forest that he would never erase from his memory.

_Some things I wish that I could learn to express_

"I do wish that I might," Kenshin began speaking to the sky softly, "But I wouldn't want to put anyone into any danger."

_Like the way that I feel _

_As I scare at the sky_

"I would hate to have anyone in the same situation as you."

_And I remember your voice_

_And the sound of goodbye_

Kenshin's fingers absently traced the scar on his cheek and he remembered… He shivered at the wind coming through the still cracked window, remembering that winter was coming. The patter of the rain kept him from dozing off again.

_Oh maybe it's the autumn chill_

_Maybe it's the rain_

Kenshin shifted and the weight on his shoulder almost fell. He caught the still-sleeping man before he did fall, though. He sighed again, and adjusted the stranger to a more comfortable position, off of him.

The man slept the whole time.

_Maybe I should wake the stranger _

_And ask him his name _

Kenshin glance across the aisle again at the reading woman. She was watching him out of the corner of her eye. He gave her a large, silly grin. The stranger looked away.

_But my eyes they would betray me_

_And my words could not defend_

Kenshin sighed again and returned to staring morosely out the window, a blank look on his face. _No Tomoe, I don't think anyone could love me. _

_So I must learn to wait my turn _

_Before I love again. _

Kenshin watched the ocean sparkle in the moonlight outside his window. A whale tail slapped the water a few miles out.

_Some things I know_

_Some things I guess _

"It's better this way."

_Some things I wish that I could learn to express_

"No one else will die because of my being there." Kenshin gazed at the stars.

_Like the way that I feel _

_As I stare at the sky_

"Perhaps I should have left the swordsman's way. But at least," Kenshin drew the blade laying across his lap about an inch, studying the glint of the sakabatou in the moonlight. "No one will die if I can help it."

_And I remember your voice _

"Thank you, Tomoe. You're a good listener as always."

_And the sound of _

_"Goodbye." _

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